Never underestimate the power of passion
by Calypsana
Summary: Was she in love with him? Aria was lucid enough to know that the answer was no. But she wanted to believe that it would come, that all relationships couldn't begin with a passionate kiss in a bathroom that would immediately lead to an overwhelming passion. Maybe passion was not always a good thing after all. ONE-SHOT


**So, I know there already are a few one-shots or stories about that but I got this idea and I needed to write it.**

** This one-shot takes place two months after the season 3 final.**

**Enjoy**

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Aria sighed in nostalgia when she arrived in front of the apartment 3B, the place which brought back so many memories, and slowly knocked on the door.

Two days ago, she had gotten a text from Ezra telling her that he had found something that belonged to her in his apartment and that it would be great if she could come by to take it back. Her heart had jumped in her chest when she had seen Ezra's name on her phone as they hadn't exchanged a single word in two months, since the day she had told him that they were over. In class, they were doing their best to avoid each other's look and the only time she had crossed his eyes was a couple of days ago when she was going out of the cinema with Jake.

Jake…

They had been dating for now three weeks. Two month ago, she had decided to take martial art lessons, she needed something to take her mind off Ezra and she had thought that with A still after them it could be useful. Jake was her professor. She had immediately liked him. He was good-looking, only two years above her and he had such a great sense of humor. At first, she hadn't even thought of a possible relationship between them, she had just gotten out of a very serious one and she didn't feel ready to date another guy but, as the weeks had passed, Jake and she had gotten closer and she had finally accepted when one night he had asked her out.

Everything was easy with Jake. Their relationship was simple not scandalous, she could go see him every time she wanted without receiving a disapproving look from her father, people didn't look at them on the street, shaking their heads and whispering, and she didn't have to deal with a kid and an ex-lover. Everything was just all neat and tidy.

Was she in love with him?

Aria was lucid enough to know that the answer was no. But she wanted to believe that it would come, that all relationships couldn't begin with a passionate kiss in a bathroom that would immediately lead to an overwhelming passion. She had known passion with Ezra and where had this led her to?

Maybe that passion was not always a good thing after all, and maybe that she didn't need it in her life.

She heard footsteps inside and Ezra opened the door, softly smiling at her.

"Hi," he greeted her, stepping to the side to allow her entry as she forced a smile.

Aria entered his apartment and looked around, expecting some changes but everything was exactly the way it was two months ago which made things even more difficult for her. He had even left the ridiculous paper bags which were supposed to represent their faces and that she had forced him to wear for their first photo together.

"How are you?" Ezra asked her once he had closed the door.

"Fine," she answered. "You?"

Ezra nodded. "Same."

"Good."

Ezra cleared his throat. "Do you want something to drink?"

Aria shook her head in negation. "No thanks." She didn't want to stay long, being in his apartment was still too hard for her as it brought back all the good moments they had shared together.

An awkward silence settled between them during which no one knew what to say to each other. She had never imagined that one day they would have nothing to say to each other. They had always known what to talk about, that was one of the things she loved the most in their relationship, it was never forced, they always find something to discuss about, it had always been so natural between them. But now, they were like two strangers embarrassed by each other's presence.

"So, what do you want to give me back?" She said, finally breaking the silence.

"Oh yeah, right," Ezra said before motioning toward his desk and coming back to her with one of her scarfs in his hands.

Aria took it and thanked him wondering why he had asked her to come back for such a tiny thing, a thing that he could easily have given her in school.

"I found it the other day, under the couch," Ezra lied. The truth was that he had kept it on purpose and had taken it away from the box which contained all her stuffs that she had come pick up a few days after their breakup. He'd wanted to keep something which belonged to her, something she had worn. Some nights, when the pain was too hard to handle he would take the soft green cloth and pressed it against his face to breath into Aria's delicate perfume. He had always found it pathetic when he had seen someone doing it in movies, but that was exactly what he was since he didn't have Aria in his life anymore: pathetic.

He would never have told her that he still had it if it hadn't been a pretext to get her to come to his apartment. There was something he really wanted to know and that wasn't something he could ask her after class.

"So, I probably should get going," Aria said.

"Wait!" Ezra stopped her. "I …I saw you the other day," he awkwardly started. "In front of the cinema, with that guy."

"Oh," was all Aria said. She remembered that day. She had met Jake after school and he had invited her to the cinema. They were going out of the cinema, chatting when she had spotted Ezra on the other side of the road. He had quickly turned his look away from hers but she knew he had seen her with Jake.

Ezra looked at his hands for a second because asking the question whose he was dying to know the answer. "Is he your… boyfriend?" He asked. He knew it was none of his business anymore but he needed to know. He was going to the store to buy his son some ice cream as the little boy was supposed to spend the weekend with him when he had seen Aria with a boy. They weren't doing anything, except talking, they weren't even holding hands but he had immediately gotten jealous and ever since he hadn't been able to think of something else.

Was he a simple friend?

Were they together? Was it possible that she already had moved on?

As Aria opened her mouth to answer him, he couldn't help but secretly hope that she was going to say that he wasn't.

But Aria nodded in affirmation. "Yes."

It was awkward to have this conversation with him, but after all, they weren't together anymore; she didn't have to be embarrassed or anything and she didn't want to lie, not to him.

Ezra bit his lip. "I see." He said, bitterness in his voice. He was trying to keep a neutral tone but he knew that she could hear his anger and his disappointment in his voice.

Aria frowned. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing, just drop it, Aria," Ezra said.

But Aria shook her head in negation. "No, go ahead, tell me what you think!"

Ezra took a deep breath and complied. "Fine! It has only been two months since we broke up and you've already moved on. I just thought that after what you and I went through together it would take you a little more time before moving on! I thought that our story meant something to you but maybe I was wrong!" He snapped. He hadn't meant to say that but that was what he felt. It was too painful to see that she had already moved on after all what had happened between them. They had been together for more than a year and a couple of weeks was all it had taken her to forget about him. How could she be dating someone else when he was still spending his evenings thinking about her and trying to find her smell on a stupid scarf?

Aria bit hard on her lip to prevent herself from crying, not believing what Ezra was saying. "How can you say that?" she shouted, anger rising in her voice. "Do you think that if it meant nothing to me I would have stayed with you for so long even with all the things I had to deal with?

"Oh yeah, because you're the only one who have been dealing with problems and made sacrifices!" Ezra argued. "I left a job I loved for you, everybody sees me as the pervert who had a relationship with his teenage student so I'm sorry it has been so complicated for you and I'm sorry I have a son I knew nothing about until three months ago!"

Aria swallowed hard as some tears filled her eyes. She couldn't believe what he was saying. He was acting like she was just a stupid bitch who had ruined his life and ditched him at the first complication. She knew he had made sacrifices for her but he wasn't the only one, she had fought very hard for their relationship. At this moment, she would have cried if the anger hadn't taken the upper hand.

"You know what?" she angrily shouted. "I don't want to argue with you any longer. This is over, I don't have to justify myself or apologize for dating someone else. Don't worry, the teenager is out of your life and you just got your precious job back, so everything's fine for you! Obviously, I'm destroying your life and you're destroying mine so that's better that way!"

She then walked to the door and was about to open it when she stopped. She was so angry and hurt that she wanted to hurt him back. "Actually, now that I think about it, I wonder why I stayed so long with you and why I fought so hard for our relationship; I just wasted my life. If I could go back to the past, I would walk away from you that day in the bar!" She then paused a few seconds before saying the sentence she knew would hurt him the most. "I wish I had never met you!" She aggressively snapped at him.

As soon as the words passed her lips, she could see pain in Ezra's dark blue eyes.

He stayed a few seconds without saying anything before walking to her and facing her. "You don't mean that."

"Oh yes I do!" Aria argued, anger all over her face.

"No you don't!" Ezra said. "And I'm gonna prove it to you!" And then, before Aria had even the time to react, Ezra suddenly crashed his lips against hers, causing her to be pressed against the door. Aria was so surprised by Ezra's sudden attempt that she didn't react immediately, but she quickly made up her mind and violently pushed him off her.

She just stood in front of him, breathing raggedly, anger etched on her features.

"Aria, I'm sor…" As he realized what he had done and was about to apologize to her, Aria suddenly attacked his lips with the same eagerness that he had a few seconds earlier, causing him to almost lose his balance.

She didn't really know what she was doing; she was so overwhelmed by so many feelings that it seemed to be the only way to release her tension. Ezra wrapped his arms around her waist as they kissed hard, their tongues battling furiously for dominance. With a force that she didn't even know she had, she ripped his shirt open, not bothering of the tiny buttons which broke and fell on the floor. He didn't care, after all, she had broken so much more than his buttons. He quickly unzipped her dress, threw it on the floor, and suddenly pushed her toward the wall before sucking on her neck making her moan loudly.

They had never been so hard with each other, they had always been so careful of each other's body and so soft in their actions but, this time, they were almost brutal.

As he was still kissing her neck, leaving some hickeys that she would have to deal with the next day, her hands lowered to his belt that she started to undo. She then jumped and tightly wrapped her legs around him, moaning when she felt him getting hard against her. He held on her thighs and threw her on the bed before getting on top of her and kissing her voraciously as she raked her nails along his back.

During the next few hours, the only sounds perceptible in apartment 3B, were loud moans and cries of pleasure as the ex-couple angrily and eagerly devoured each other's body.

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Ezra rolled his sore and sweaty body off Aria's naked one, coming to rest on his back as he tried to get his breath back. He couldn't believe what had just happened. Everything had started with a question which had led to a big fight and finally to an intense lovemaking. When he had asked her to come by he sure hadn't expected that but that didn't mean he regretted it. Sex with Aria had always been good but _that_ sex had been unbelievable.

As he was still under the shock of their powerful sex, he suddenly heard a soft laugh besides him and couldn't suppress a smile when he saw Aria, who was lying on her back, staring at the ceiling; laughing.

"What's so funny?" He asked her.

"Everything," she answered, still looking at the ceiling. "This situation," she started. "Actually, our whole relationship is funny if you think about it. You and I meeting in a bar and discovering that you're my teacher the day after. Then, this whole student/teacher secret relationship during a year. You and I unable to stay away from each other and trying to convince ourselves that it can work even with my parents against us, the law, your ex-fiancée and a kid in the equation. You and I breaking up for good. You and I fighting and yelling horrible things at each other and finally ending up making love like that….

As she was talking, her smile disappeared and tears soon fell down her cheeks.

Ezra suddenly realized how much she was suffering from the situation. That was when her words came back to him.

_'I wish I had never met you!' _

Hearing those words had hurt him. He knew that anger had probably made her say that but, still, it hurt to know that the girl he loved could regret their relationship. But, now, as he was watching the tears falling from Aria's beautiful hazel eyes, he wondered if it wouldn't have been better for her if they had never met.

"Aria…"

"I'm sorry for what I said," she interrupted him as if she was reading his mind. She turned her head to him as she wiped some tears away from her face. "You were right, I didn't mean it. I don't regret anything that has happened between us, not even what we just did."

Ezra weakly smiled at her. "Me neither. But I'm the one who should be sorry; I pushed you to say that. I'm sorry, I was just being jealous. Imagining _that guy_ kissing you… touching you…" He stopped on the middle of his sentence at the unbearable thought. He couldn't stand the thought of another man making love to her.

Aria sighed. "If it can make you feel better, Jake and I never… you know, did what we just did."

"What? Angry sex?" Ezra said causing Aria to smile in spite of her tears.

"No, I mean sex," she replied with a small smile as her cheeks turned slightly red.

Ezra softly smiled. "It definitely makes me feel better. But I still shouldn't have reacted the way I did, I should be happy that you've moved on and that you're happy. You know it's all I have ever wanted."

Aria turned her look away from him and started looking again at the ceiling.

"But I'm not." She let out after a few minutes of silence. "Jake he is just… I dated him because I thought I could live without but I realize that I can't."

Ezra furrowed his brows in confusion. "Without what?"

Aria sighed and closed her eyes for a second before looking at him. "Passion." She confessed. "What you and I had …have, is special. I want to feel that, Ezra, I want to feel the sparks I feel when we kiss, the shudders which run through me when you touch me. I know I will never have that with Jake."

She didn't say it but she realized that she probably would never have that with anyone else but Ezra.

"Ezra, I…I love you and no matter what I do to stop to, it doesn't work."

Ezra got even closer to her and brushed a lock of dark hair from her forehead. "I love you too."

They leaned toward each other on the bed and gently pressed their lips together but, when Ezra felt her tongue on his bottom lip, begging for entrance, he pulled away.

"Aria… nothing has changed you know," he started. "I still have Malcolm in my life and I'm willing to do anything possible to take care of him. He is my son."

Aria sighed and nodded. "I know."

"It's not going to be easy," Ezra added.

"I know," she said once again. That was when a quote, that she had probably once read somewhere, came to her mind.

___'Passion... it can hurt so much sometimes, we can hardly stand it. Without passion, maybe we could all have some sort of peace in this life... but then, we'd be hollow. Without passion, we would be dead.'_

A small smile spread across her face as the words played on her head.

Then, she turned to Ezra and looked at him straight in the eyes. "Please, make love to me again," she pleadingly asked.

Ezra weakly smiled at her and softly pressed his lips against hers as their tongues started massaging each other.

This time it was not harsh nor brutal, it was soft and sweet. It wasn't rushed, they wanted it to last, they wanted to enjoy the feeling of their two bodies pressed against one another as long as possible. It was different from their previous lovemaking, but yet there was something in common, something which could describe their relationship since the very beginning and that, no matter how hard their relationship had been, was and would probably always be, made it worth it: passion.

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**So? What do you think?**

**I hope you liked it. **

**Please review to tell me.**

**I know I haven't updated _the power of guilt _for those who read it ( I just realize I have a thing for the titles including the word 'power' lol) recently and I'm sorry about that but I haven't been much inspirited so I preferred writing that instead but, don't worry, I will update as soon as I can, I have already started writing the next chapter.**

**I'm sorry for any mistake.**

**xoxo**


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